THE public will get the chance to vote in a historic referendum to decide Britain’s future in the EU by the end of 2017, Tory MP James Wharton vows today.

And it will be a simple “Yes” or “No” question – an “in or out” choice – as he insists: “It is time to let Britain decide.”

Mr Wharton, writing for the Daily Express, also warns against those trying to scupper attempts to get a blueprint for a referendum rubber-stamped by Parliament.

MPs are due to hold a crunch vote on Friday on the Conservative backbencher’s private member’s Bill to hold the first referendum on the UK’s membership with Brussels in more than 40 years.

A previous Commons vote saw 304 MPs back the Bill.

Mr Wharton writes: “Britain now faces a historic choice. The problems with the EU are not going away. We must face up to them. That is exactly what my Bill will help us do.

Wharton claims vote will put power back in the hands of the people [PA]

Britain now faces a historic choice

James Wharton

“If it passes, it will be legally impossible for any future government to ignore it and, when you think about it, it would be politically toxic for some future Parliament to reverse it, too.” The move marks a giant leap forward for the Daily Express crusade for the UK to quit the EU.

Mr Wharton, 29, insists the Government, and any future Government, must by the end of 2016 set a date for a referendum by the end of 2017.

He says: “This would put power back where it should be – in the hands of people.”

But he warned a Labour victory at the 2015 general election may ruin the chance for a public referendum.

A 2015 Labour victory will spoil chances of public referendum states Wharton [GETTY]

Mr Wharton is also facing opposition from within his party – with other Eurosceptic Tory MPs drawing up a secret Plan B battle strategy to ensure Britain gets its promised EU referendum.

They fear Mr Wharton’s Bill will be killed in the Lords by Labour and Lib Dems.

The MP for Stockton South adds: “To those MPs who wish to scupper the Bill and block a referendum, I would say this – you will have voters to answer to in 2015. I know my constituents would take a dim view of those who would deny them a say.”

Details emerged yesterday that the EU has begun moves towards funding a “Yes” campaign in any future membership referendum. The constitutional committee of the Brussels parliament has sent a confidential document to lawyers asking for advice on how Europe can participate in national referendums.

EU law prohibits European interference in elections or referendums in individual nation states. But the parliament thinks a detailed study of national rules may enable it to find ways of legally sidestepping the restriction.